During his first term in office, President Donald Trump oversaw the renegotiation of a continent-wide trade deal that he hailed as "the fairest, most balanced, and beneficial trade agreement we have ever signed into law. It's the best agreement we've ever made."
As part of that deal, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the three countries agreed that they would not "increase any existing customs duty, or adopt any new customs duty" beyond the tariffs and duties outlined in the agreement.
Five years after he signed it, however, Trump seems to have little regard for that provision of the USMCA. He's now threatening to slap a general tariff on all imports from America's two neighbors and two largest trading partners. During an impromptu press conference in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said those tariffs could be in place as soon as February 1.
